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| By Frank Cho |
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| By Jose Luis Garcia Lopez |
From now, until August, you will find a post full of Wonder Woman art, by great illustrators, right here, every other Wednesday --with the next one appearing on April 1!
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
'Wonder Woman 1984' Delayed... but There's Also Good News!
We just learned that the new Wonder Woman movie has been pushed back from its June 4th, 2020, release to August 14th. While, on the one hand, this is disappointing to us, on the other hand, it means that there will be many more Wonder Woman Wednesdays, with their galleries of great portraits of everyone's favorite Amazon (and her pals)!
From now, until August, you will find a post full of Wonder Woman art, by great illustrators, right here, every other Wednesday --with the next one appearing on April 1!
From now, until August, you will find a post full of Wonder Woman art, by great illustrators, right here, every other Wednesday --with the next one appearing on April 1!
Monday, March 23, 2020
Musical Monday with The Correspondents
On this Musical Monday, The Correspondents & Friends are here to entertain us Coronavirus shut-ins with their 2009 song "Washington Square"
This music video also presents an educational opportunity, as well as a way to keep yourselves busy well beyond its running time. As you watch the video, make note of how many times the characters violate the best practices of Social Distancing and write a 200 - 300 word essay on how you're going to stop from making the same mistakes.
Share your essays via email with your friends and family, along with a link to this post. Let's entertain and educate the world!
fdafa
This music video also presents an educational opportunity, as well as a way to keep yourselves busy well beyond its running time. As you watch the video, make note of how many times the characters violate the best practices of Social Distancing and write a 200 - 300 word essay on how you're going to stop from making the same mistakes.
Share your essays via email with your friends and family, along with a link to this post. Let's entertain and educate the world!
fdafa
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Tom & Jerry are up to 'Tightrope Tricks'
Tight Rope Tricks (1933)
Starring: Bonnie Poe (Voice of Female Tightrope Walker)
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Tom and Jerry perform musical stunts on the tightrope and cause chaos at the circus.
"Tightrope Tricks" is another of the middle-of-the-pack entries in the "Tom and Jerry" series. There's nothing about it that's particularly outstanding, nor is there anything about it that's particularly bad. It's just a breezy and fairly mindless bit of entertainment.
In fact, it's so mindless that the writers didn't even pay much attention to the details of the already thin story. The set-up seems to waver back and forth between Tom and Jerry being actual circus performers and being members of the public who are just causing trouble on the grounds. After marching in the circus' parade (as if they are members of the troupe), they mess with an elephant and torment a lion (like obnoxious members of the pubic), perform on the high-wire (as if they are part of an established act), and so on. While either mode in which the main characters function leads to some amusing gags (even if I found myself rooting for the lions rather than the "heroes" during the film's climax), it really feels like two separate films were merged into one here.
One curious detail about "Tightrope Tricks" that's worth noting is illustrated below, with images taken from the scene where Tom changes into tights:
Either Tom likes wearing women's underwear, or he's actually a she! It doesn't make a difference one way or another for most of the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons, but it's a weird detail I think. It's certainly something one would only find a Pre-Code cartoon! Or am I misinterpreting Tom's undergarments? Why don't you take a few minutes and watch the cartoon for yourself and let me know what you think.
Starring: Bonnie Poe (Voice of Female Tightrope Walker)
Directors: John Foster and George Rufle
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
Tom and Jerry perform musical stunts on the tightrope and cause chaos at the circus.
"Tightrope Tricks" is another of the middle-of-the-pack entries in the "Tom and Jerry" series. There's nothing about it that's particularly outstanding, nor is there anything about it that's particularly bad. It's just a breezy and fairly mindless bit of entertainment.
In fact, it's so mindless that the writers didn't even pay much attention to the details of the already thin story. The set-up seems to waver back and forth between Tom and Jerry being actual circus performers and being members of the public who are just causing trouble on the grounds. After marching in the circus' parade (as if they are members of the troupe), they mess with an elephant and torment a lion (like obnoxious members of the pubic), perform on the high-wire (as if they are part of an established act), and so on. While either mode in which the main characters function leads to some amusing gags (even if I found myself rooting for the lions rather than the "heroes" during the film's climax), it really feels like two separate films were merged into one here.
One curious detail about "Tightrope Tricks" that's worth noting is illustrated below, with images taken from the scene where Tom changes into tights:
Either Tom likes wearing women's underwear, or he's actually a she! It doesn't make a difference one way or another for most of the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons, but it's a weird detail I think. It's certainly something one would only find a Pre-Code cartoon! Or am I misinterpreting Tom's undergarments? Why don't you take a few minutes and watch the cartoon for yourself and let me know what you think.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Kenny Rogers passes away at 81
On March 20, 2020, singer, song writer, and actor Kenny Rogers passed away from natural causes. He was 81.
Rogers was a huge star in the 1970s and 1980s, with songs topping both the country and pop music charts. He began his professional music career in the mid-1950s and recorded in genres ranging from jazz, to psychedelic rock, and, the country music genre for which he will forever be remembered. In 2015, after one final tour and 60 years spent on stages. Rogers retired.
In addition to his musical career, Rogers published a book of photographs he took--a hobby that became a passion, an autobiography, and he starred in several movies.
On a personal note, Rogers' 1978 hit, "The Gambler", has been a favorite song of mine since I first heard it as a little kid. As I've grew up and grew older, my love for this song has remained, even as the reasons for that love have evolved.
Thank you, Mr. Rogers, for a life spent enriching existence for the rest of us.
Here's a link to a video of Rogers performing "The Gambler."
Rogers was a huge star in the 1970s and 1980s, with songs topping both the country and pop music charts. He began his professional music career in the mid-1950s and recorded in genres ranging from jazz, to psychedelic rock, and, the country music genre for which he will forever be remembered. In 2015, after one final tour and 60 years spent on stages. Rogers retired.
In addition to his musical career, Rogers published a book of photographs he took--a hobby that became a passion, an autobiography, and he starred in several movies.
On a personal note, Rogers' 1978 hit, "The Gambler", has been a favorite song of mine since I first heard it as a little kid. As I've grew up and grew older, my love for this song has remained, even as the reasons for that love have evolved.
Thank you, Mr. Rogers, for a life spent enriching existence for the rest of us.
Here's a link to a video of Rogers performing "The Gambler."
Friday, March 20, 2020
The Milla Jovovich Quarterly
"Hey, Winter. C'mere. Yeah, you. I'm talking to you. Just come here."
"Don't be afraid... I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just gonna put you in the closet with this big coat, because IT'S SPRING NOW, AND YOU ARE DONE!
"Because I'm sick of it being too cold for me to ride my motorcycle in my underwear!"
"Don't be afraid... I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just gonna put you in the closet with this big coat, because IT'S SPRING NOW, AND YOU ARE DONE!
"Because I'm sick of it being too cold for me to ride my motorcycle in my underwear!"
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Georges and the Magic Bubbles
Soap Bubbles (1906)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Come one, come all! Witness a performance by the magician (Méliès) who eschews smoke and mirrors in favor of smoke and bubbles!
"Soap Bubbles" is a straight-ahead showcase for Georges Méliès trick photography-created special effects. There's no narrative framework for the movie magic here, as the viewer is treated to a literal performance by a stage magician. I imagine that audiences in 1906 were awestruck by what they saw unfold on the screen, since special effects were still quite rare in films. For the modern viewer, this may be a little hokey, and if you've already seen several of Méliès's films there won't be any surprises here. Still, the effects hold up nicely, given that "Soap Bubbles" is over 110 years old, and there's really only one that I found myself disappointed with.
I invite you to take a few minutes to check out "Soap Bubbles" below, especially if you're new in these parts. Georges Méliès was a pioneer in the area of special effects, and I feel he deserved to be remembered and that movie lovers should continue to watch his work.
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
Come one, come all! Witness a performance by the magician (Méliès) who eschews smoke and mirrors in favor of smoke and bubbles!
"Soap Bubbles" is a straight-ahead showcase for Georges Méliès trick photography-created special effects. There's no narrative framework for the movie magic here, as the viewer is treated to a literal performance by a stage magician. I imagine that audiences in 1906 were awestruck by what they saw unfold on the screen, since special effects were still quite rare in films. For the modern viewer, this may be a little hokey, and if you've already seen several of Méliès's films there won't be any surprises here. Still, the effects hold up nicely, given that "Soap Bubbles" is over 110 years old, and there's really only one that I found myself disappointed with.
I invite you to take a few minutes to check out "Soap Bubbles" below, especially if you're new in these parts. Georges Méliès was a pioneer in the area of special effects, and I feel he deserved to be remembered and that movie lovers should continue to watch his work.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Wonder Woman Wednesday
This week, we have portraits of Wonder Woman with her fellow DC Comics Superstars, Batman and Superman!
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| By Stjepan Sejic |
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| By John Byrne |
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| By Kevin Nowlan |
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| By Ivan Reis |
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Monday, March 16, 2020
Musical Monday with Spirit Animal
Since Covid19/Coronavirus/whatever-the-acceptable-shorthand-for-the-global-pandemic-is-today is turning many of us into shut-ins, we here at Shades of Gray have teamed up with Spirit Animal (a band from Brooklyn, N.Y.) to bring you an exercise regiment that will keep you physically fit.
Please follow the instructions in the video carefully.
(Come to think of it, this is also a perfect illustration of this blog's unifying theme!)
Sunday, March 15, 2020
'Bimbo's Initiation' is nightmarish fun
Bimbo's Initiation (1931)
Starring: Billy Murray (voice of Bimbo) and Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
A secret society wants Bimbo to join their ranks, and its members won't take no for an answer.
"Bimbo's Initiation" is another one of those 1930s cartoons that starts goofy, turns weird, and dives headlong into the nightmarishly insane before its over. It's also an extremely funny. Further, even by today's standards, this 90-year-old cartoon features some very impressive, almost 3D-feeling animation of Bimbo's trek through the bizarre house of horrors the secret society traps him in after he turns them down. The film's best gag comes at the very end, though, when Bimbo is made an offer to join that no male can refuse!
This fun and freaky cartoon is sure to brighten your day, as well as make you marvel at how it can be so creepy and so amusing at the same time. If you have an interest in pop culture, you'll find added value in the fact that this film is one of the last times Betty Boop appeared in her original anthropomorphic poodle-like form, as well as one of the last time Bimbo had a leading role. Soon, Betty would be redesigned into the character we know today, and Bimbo would be relegated to ever-smaller parts until vanishing from the series entirely in 1934.
Please take a few minutes to enjoy "Bimbo's Initiation", right here in this post. You're also invited to leave comments here if you agree or disagree with my comments, or have an observation you wish to make.
Starring: Billy Murray (voice of Bimbo) and Mae Questel (voice of Betty Boop)
Director: Dave Fleischer
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars
A secret society wants Bimbo to join their ranks, and its members won't take no for an answer.
"Bimbo's Initiation" is another one of those 1930s cartoons that starts goofy, turns weird, and dives headlong into the nightmarishly insane before its over. It's also an extremely funny. Further, even by today's standards, this 90-year-old cartoon features some very impressive, almost 3D-feeling animation of Bimbo's trek through the bizarre house of horrors the secret society traps him in after he turns them down. The film's best gag comes at the very end, though, when Bimbo is made an offer to join that no male can refuse!
This fun and freaky cartoon is sure to brighten your day, as well as make you marvel at how it can be so creepy and so amusing at the same time. If you have an interest in pop culture, you'll find added value in the fact that this film is one of the last times Betty Boop appeared in her original anthropomorphic poodle-like form, as well as one of the last time Bimbo had a leading role. Soon, Betty would be redesigned into the character we know today, and Bimbo would be relegated to ever-smaller parts until vanishing from the series entirely in 1934.
Please take a few minutes to enjoy "Bimbo's Initiation", right here in this post. You're also invited to leave comments here if you agree or disagree with my comments, or have an observation you wish to make.
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